on the ferry

The ocean is surly. Even now, my brother and his family are boarding the ferry to come to a cold and rainy Block Island. The good news is that, being from Santa Fe, they love wet weather. When my brother runs the water to get it hot for shaving, he catches the unused water in a basin and waters his tiny garden with it.
Here, we're drowning in the stuff. There are said to be 365 freshwater ponds on the island—one for every day of the year. It could be. I have one myself. I don't really get why water is so expensive here. But this year, anyway, I sure haven't had to water the garden.